GREAT Britain remain in the World Cup and will travel to Poland for Thursday’s race-off after finishing third at Peterborough last night.

Manager Rob Lyon’s experimental young side were plenty good enough for Slovenia, and while they were never in contention for a win on the night, there will undoubtedly be long-term benefits from the team selection.

Poland made their way into this Saturday’s final direct after a close battle throughout the evening with Australia in a thrilling meeting which produced some of the best racing ever seen at this level.

And a bumper Showground crowd also enjoyed the efforts of the Brits, with captain Chris Harris leading in typically spectacular style.

Harris was one of several riders to explore almost every line available on the wide, well-prepared circuit, and his Heat 12 win for double-points over Adrian Miedzinski and Davey Watt was one of the big highlights.

Of the newcomers, Daniel King was the most impressive and very much made use of his track knowledge as an ex-Peterborough rider, quite possibly riding his way into Thursday’s line-up at Leszno.

Australia fought all the way to keep Poland in check, their commitment summed up by a Heat 20 battle between Jason Crump and Slovenian Matej Zagar which was one of the all-time great races, Crump snatching victory on the line.

At that stage, Poland’s lead was a single point, but a surprise last place from Ryan Sullivan in Heat 21, which was won by Krzysztof Kasprzak, left the Australians with too much to do.

Jarek Hampel wrapped up victory on the night with his fourth win in the penultimate race of the night as the Poles joined Russia in the final, with the race-off set to feature Australia, Great Britain, Denmark and Sweden.